![]() ![]() Maybe what I classify as the inception of the idea is actually the conclusion to that idea. But part of me suspects I’d actually been thinking about the concept of collective wrongness unconsciously for 30 years, and that this serendipitous moment was just the first time I decided to write a book about it. Now, those two synchronised events did occur, and they seem like a plausible genesis for a workable idea. For example: whenever people ask me how I came up with the idea behind But What If We’re Wrong? I almost always mention watching a specific TV series (Cosmos) while simultaneously reading about the life of a specific author (Herman Melville). I suppose it’s possible that this rote reply is the true answer, and that I simply needed to work through the inquiry 25 times before realising this was the case. ![]() But because this (totally reasonable) question is asked so persistently, I inevitably manufacture a semi-cogent response that feels halfway plausible, and I repeat that response until it feels like the true answer. The first question is always: “How did you come up with this idea?” My most honest answer would be to admit that I don’t know, or that I can’t remember, or that I do remember but I don’t want to say. Yet there are two questions you get asked every single time, over and over again (by journalists, but also by normal people). I’ve published nine books and all nine experiences have been unique. ![]()
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